CSAC Agriculture & Natural Resources Policy Committee Meeting

The CSAC Agriculture & Natural Resources Policy (ANR) Committee will meet on Thursday, May 30th, 2013 from 10:30 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. at the Sheraton Hotel in Sacramento during the CSAC Legislative Conference. The agenda packet is available online. 

Agenda Highlights: 

• Discussion focusing on natural resource/ agricultural land conservation. Come and hear about two separate proposals from Sonoma County Open Space District and the Conservation Strategies Group, both of which would seek to promote natural resource/ agricultural land conservation and provide economic incentives for the conservation of natural & working landscapes.
• Update from CAL Fire staff on what to expect this year as we head into the dry summer months, as well as updates on State and Federal Cooperative Fire Protection efforts and the State Responsibility Area Fees.
• Legislative Update. It’s that time of year in the State Legislature when bills are heating up and committee hearings are running long. Come listen to CSAC staff’s update on pressing legislative topics this session, including the pending Water Bond, Cap and Trade proposals, Solid Waste Management issues, SRA Fees and Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy funding proposals.

Other meetings and events you might be interested in…

Coastal Counties Regional Association Meeting– Wednesday, May 29th 2:30- 4:00 p.m.

Workshop: Big Issues, Small Bites – Roundtable Discussions on Water, Cap & Trade and other Hot Topics– Wednesday, May 29th 2:45- 4:00 p.m.

CEQA Reform Policy Discussion at the Housing, Land Use & Transportation Committee – Thursday, May 30th 9:00 – 11:00 a.m. (CEQA is the first item on this agenda)

Solid Waste

SB 804 (Lara) – Support
As Amended April 22, 2013

SB 804, by Senator Ricardo Lara, passed to the Senate Floor this week. This is the CSAC, Los Angeles County co-sponsored bill dealing with solid waste conversion technology. This bill would take a step forward in advancing CTs in California by adding them to the definition of biomass in statute. Current law defines “biomass conversion” as the controlled combustion of organic materials–such as wood, lawn and garden clippings, agricultural waste, leaves, tree pruning as well as non-recyclable paper–when separated from other solid waste and used for producing electricity or heat. This bill would simply include CTs to the biomass definition, allowing for cleaner and more efficient technologies to be used in the biomass process. In addition, SB 804 includes anaerobic digestion in the definition of composting. Anaerobic digestion refers to the controlled biological decomposition of organic material with little or no oxygen. The decomposition of organic materials in solid waste landfills produces significant amounts of methane, a potent greenhouse gas. Anaerobic digestion can help California reduce greenhouse gas emissions under the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, (AB 32) by diverting organic materials from landfills, generate low-carbon fuels, and assist with meeting the state’s 75% recycling goal. These changes will ensure that anaerobic digestion facilities are treated comparably to composting facilities. CSAC and LA County will continue to hold stakeholder conversations on the bill focusing on the advancement of CTs and their permitting and siting pathway as it moves to the Assembly. If you would like more information, please contact Cara Martinson at 916-327-7500, ext. 504, or cmartinson@counties.org. 

Suspense File Legislation

AB 416 (Gordon) — Support
As Amended April 4, 2013

AB 416, by Assembly Member Rich Gordon, was held on the Assembly Appropriations Suspense File. As you might recall, this bill would establish a competitive grant program from Cap and Trade funds for local governments to fund projects that develop and implement greenhouse gas emission reductions at the local level. This is one of two Cap and Trade measures CSAC is co-sponsoring this year. While the bill was not let out of the committee today, as reported in our Budget Action Bulletin on the May Revise, the expenditure of Cap and Trade revenues is simultaneously being negotiated in the budget. CSAC continues to work with our coalition partners to advocate that the programmatic funding structures contained in AB 416 (and AB 574 by Assembly Member Lowenthal) be enacted in the budget or in legislation regardless of whether Cap and Trade funds are appropriated in FY 13-14. 

AB 39 (Skinner) — Support if Amended
As Amended May 24, 2013

AB 39, by Assembly Member Skinner and Speaker John A. Perez, passed off the Assembly Appropriations Suspense File. Amendments were taken in Committee and CSAC will reevaluate our position to ascertain if the bill still applies to local governments. CSAC had taken a support-if-amended position on the bill because of its limited inclusion of public buildings. Specifically, this bill would allocate 75% of funds for grants to schools K-12, and 11% of that going to community colleges; and, 25% of funds dedicated to K-14 for low-interest or no-interest revolving loans, or loan loss reserve programs for five years with other public buildings eligible for loans and financing at fiscal year 2016-17. CSAC feels strongly that there is a larger role for local governments in the implementation of Prop. 39. CSAC, along with our local government partners, is advocating that public facilities should be eligible for these funds for the entire five- year allocation. CSAC is asking for amendments to address this concern. 

AB 323 (Chesbro) – Oppose Unless Amended
As Introduced February 12, 2013

AB 323, by Assembly Member Chesbro, was held on the Assembly Appropriations Suspense File. As you might recall, this bill would require the Department of Resources, Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) to adopt regulations to provide that, no later than January 1, 2020, the use of green material as alternative daily cover (ADC) does not constitute diversion through recycling and would be considered disposal. The bill includes a clause that would delay the date of the ADC regulation by up to two years if Cal Recycle determines that there is insufficient infrastructure to handle green material. AB 323 would also require Cal Recycle by 2017 to develop regulations to mandate the source separation of organics for large commercial organics generators. CSAC had expressed concerns with the green waste ADC phase-out and urged the author to consider amendments. 

SB 405 (Padilla) – Support
As Amended April 2, 2013

SB 405, by Senator Alex Padilla, passed off the Senate Appropriations Suspense File this week. This bill would, as of January 1, 2015, prohibit stores that have a specified amount of dollar sales or retail floor space from providing a single-use carryout bag to a customer. In addition, SB 405 would, on and after July 1, 2016, additionally impose these prohibitions and requirements on convenience food stores, food marts, and certain other specified stores. The bill also contains requirements for reusable grocery bags. CSAC is also working with the author’s office on amendments that would ensure that all existing ordinances are grandfathered in. 

AB 23 (Donnelly) – Support
AB 124 (Morrell) – Support

AB 23, by Assembly Member Tim Donnelly and AB 124, by Assembly Member Mike Morrell were both held in the Assembly Appropriations Committee this week. As you recall these bills would repeal the State’s controversial state responsibility areas (SRA) fire prevention fee. 

SB 64 (Corbett) – Support
As Amended April 23, 2013

SB 64, by Senator Ellen Corbett, passed off the Senate Appropriations Suspense File this week. This bill would help to implement Prop. 39 by requiring the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (CEC) to develop and administer programs to provide financial assistance to school districts and cities and counties to install energy efficiency and clean energy technology projects for their facilities. This is currently the only Prop 39 bill that would include counties as eligible recipients for the entire Prop 39 funding stream.

SB 731 (Steinberg) – Support in Concept
As Amended April 23, 2013

SB 731, by Senate President Pro Tem, Darrell Steinberg, passed off the Senate Appropriations Suspense File this week. This bill is anticipated to be the main vehicle for any substantive CEQA Reform discussions. CSAC has a support-in-concept position on SB 731, with a commitment to provide more substantive comments on the bill in the coming weeks and to continue to work with the author as discussions continue.

AB 488 (Williams) – Support
As Amended April 23, 2013

AB 488, by Assembly Member Das Williams, was held on the Appropriations Suspense File this week. This bill would require a producer of single-use primary household batteries or a single-use primary household battery stewardship organization to create product stewardship plans for household batteries.